How to connect Joomla to SMS service

After reading the benefits of using
SMS functionality in Joomla you are prepared for adopting the Ozeki SMS Newsletter
solution. This configuration
guide will instruct you how to build up your own "Ozeki SMS Newsletter" module
with Ozeki NG SMS Gateway to start SMS newsletter service on your website. Read
more to learn about the SMS Newsletter solution.

How to configure SMS Newsletter in Joomlaa 3.5

To subscribe for SMS Newsletter,the users have to fill in the subscription form
on a Joomla website and select the "Subscribe" option on it. By clicking on the "Save settings" button
the phone number will be subscribed to the SMS newsletter service.

From this time on, the users can subscribe for newsletters in SMS.
If the administrator (or a user who is super user) logs into the website, he will be
able to send out SMS newsletter from the front-end website with Ozeki SMS Module
through Ozeki NG SMS Gateway. The sending process is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - How SMS Newsletters are sent to subscribers

Configuration of this solution

To be able to send SMS Newsletters from Joomla with Ozeki SMS Newsletter
module please follow the installation steps in this guide and watch the video tutorial for help.

Step 1: Installation steps in Ozeki NG SMS Gateway

In this part of the installation, we will create a new database that will be responsible
for storing the lists of the list management function of Ozeki NG SMS gateway. If
the database will be ready, we will connect Ozeki NG SMS Gateway to the same database.

First, login to your MySQL console or PHPMyAdmin, and create the database using the following command:

create database sms_newsletter;

If the database has been created successfully, grant all privileges to one of your user with
the following command:

Go to the installed modules page of the administration panel and click on
the name of the newly installed module (Figure 8).

Figure 8 - Installed modules

On the right side of the Module tab, select a position where you would like to display the
module and modify the status to Published.

On the left side of the Module tab, you need to give the data of your MySQL server and database
in which the lists are stored (Figure 9).

Figure 9 - Module settings

Under the Menu assignment tab, you need to select the pages where the Ozeki SMS Newsletter
module should be displayed (Figure 10).

Figure 10 - Menu assignment

At the end of the configuration, click on Save button, and open the main page of the
Joomla website. You can see the installed module on the right side of the website (Figure 11).

Figure 11 - Ozeki SMS Newsletter module on the main page

Step 3: How to configure Ozeki SMS Module

SMS messages can be sent to the subscribed phone numbers with the Ozeki SMS Module.
By default, every user can send SMS messages with the Ozeki SMS Module, so in the following part
of this guide, I will show you how to give permission only for super users.

On the right side of the configuration page, select Super Users from the
drop down menu that belongs to the Access label. Then click on Save button (Figure 13).

Figure 13 - Change access to modules

Step 4: How to send test messages to the phone numbers

If you open the main page of your Joomla site, login as a super user (such as admin)
and the Ozeki SMS Module will be displayed on the selected position (Figure 14).

Figure 14 - Login as admin

Provide the name of the list in the following format, and the SMS messages will be sent
to the phone numbers that can be found in the list (Figure 15).

list://listname

Figure 15 - Send SMS to the list

As you have seen, SMS Newsletter module are very simple to
configure and use. This guide provided all the necessary information, instructions
to start operating your own SMS Newsletter feature in Joomla. This solution is
suitable for marketing and advertising processes as well as keeping contact with
customers. Thank you for your attention.